The year we saw Tom and Nicole officially couple up, listened to Mariah Carey belt out her first #1 hit, and watched as Julia Roberts became the country's most adored Pretty Woman

ELLE's first cover girl, Yasmin Le Bon, gets the royal treatment in 1990 with the new decade's first two covers—as well as a third in October. No person since, model or celebrity, has ever matched Le Bon's three-peat performance. (January/February)

ELLE Flashback: 1990

ELLE Flashback: 1990

"The most beautiful women in the world wear Alaïa," says the pull-quote from this profile of the Tunisian-born designer, an unabashed favorite of ELLE editors. In three subsequent 1990 issues, Alaïa and his model-favored bodycon dresses would be featured in spotlight fashion stories. According to the article, "some models crave his style so much they agree to appear in his shows only if they can be paid in clothes, not money." Back then or today, I don't think anyone could blame them. (February)